SDCC '09: Capcom Fighting Games Panel

It was standing room only at the action-packed Capcom Fighting Games panel.

The one thing that's more popular than Capcom games are Capcom fighting games. Capcom was wise to have a panel dedicated to just their new fighters coming out this year. I got to the line at a decent enough time to get in, but we were delayed a bit before we could get in. The panel was scheduled to start at 2:30pm, but at 2:40 we were still standing in line, waiting to get in. A girl behind me said, "If I don't get into this panel I'm gonna hurt somebody." Definitely a fighter chick to be wary of. Or for a Capcom fan to ask on a date. Once we were let in the line moved briskly and I had to end up standing since all the chairs were taken. That room was filling beyond its capacity with the fans squeezing in.

As the last of the line was entering the room, a Capcom cheer was started by one of the Capcom guys. One side of the room yelled "CAP!' and the other "COM!" It's a sure-fire way to excite an already riled-up crowd of fighting game fans. Capcom Community manager Seth Killian was moderating and began the panel all proper-like with the line, "Fighting games are back!" The crowd cheered. Killian then introduced, Ryota Niitsuma, producer of Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom, Kazuhiro Tsuchiya, producer of Fate/Unlimited Codes, and Rey Jimenez for Marvel Vs. Capcom 2.

First up was Niitsuma who introduced the E3 trailer for Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom. After the trailer, Killian asked the crowd, "Who is the best fighting game character?" He received countless cries of Ryu, Dan, and others. Seth said, "The correct answer is Chun Li." Niitsuma stated that the U.S. will get extra characters not in the Japanese version, but couldn't say exactly who they were yet. Hey, go us.

Killian then started-up a live demo against another Capcom guy. Killian chose Ken the Eagle and one of his favorite Capcom characters "...we haven't seen in a while - Viewtiful Joe." The crowd cheered for Joe. The other guy picked Ryu and was slowly flipping through secondary characters as the crowed yelled different character names for him to pick. He ultimately chose Chun Li. Once the match began Killian proceeded to explain the fighting system of only three attack buttons. There is also a partner button and he showed some Joe's support moves. Of course, it's pretty much like all of Capcom's other fighting games: insanely awesome. Killian reached the super demonstration portion of his demo, so he started up a super move, the super animation began... and HE MISSED! The crowd booed him ruthlessly (Killian is a world-class Street Fighter player). The other guy then did Chun Li's fireball super move. After landing a few more hits, Killian was then able to do Ken the Eagle's third level super which was calling the giant phoenix from Battle of the Planets. The other guy then demonstrated Ryu's fireball super and his Hurricane Kick super a few moments later.

Niitsuma continued. Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom is primarily based on Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 and anyone that has played that will feel comfortable with this. However, TVC uses a two character system instead of three. The TVC portion of the panel was done, but not before Niitsuma threw a couple autographed TVC t-shirts and towels into the crowd.

Tsuchiya spoke next about Fate/Unlimited Codes, a fighting game heading to the PSP. I hadn't kept up with anything Fate related so the trailer shown and all of what Tsuchiya was saying was news to me. Fate/Unlimited Codes is a magic-based fighting game that takes place in Japan. The fighters have mythological spirits that help them in battles and the characters are able to perform 100+ hit combos. Fate originally began as a small PC game from a group that got started at the Japanese equivalent of Comic-con. The Fate series is quite popular in Japan and at one point Tsuchiya abruptly asked how many people in the crowd actually knew about the Fate series. There were only a few claps along with a slightly awkward silence among the crowd. There are many manga and anime tie-in series in Japan. This game is based on an arcade game that came out in Japan last year and was ported to the PS2 late last year. Fate/Unlimited Codes will be a download only title.

It was Jimenez's turn to talk about Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 and some random fan appropriately yelled, "Take us for a ride." The crowd laughed. The MVC2 Episode 6 trailer premiered at the panel. Jimenez didn't say too much about the game but debuted a rap music video from Planet Asia. The song is on the MVC2 vinyl, but it was easy to tell that many fans did not care about the video. Seth said that there was going to be a tournament, but the previous Attack of the Show panel ran over their allotted time and ruined it for everyone. So, they took a few quick questions instead. The first question was whether we'll see a Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom 2. Niitsuma said that it depends on the success of the first game. The next question was what about MVC3 to which Jimenez replied "Hit up Marvel." The next question was actually a smart one. The fan asked how difficult was it to get the rights to bring Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom to the U.S. since there are so may companies that own them? Niitsuma replied that is was very difficult and it took a very long time, but they were able to do it. The next question was an entertaining one. "What are some of the more bizarre character requests you've gotten?" Jimenez said that he never had any bizarre requests, but he does get Deadpool a lot and said that Deadpool would be a good match-up against Dante from Devil May Cry (that would be a great match-up). Niitsuma also answered the question with, "Samurai Pizza Cats," and the crowd just erupted into hoots and hollers. The last question was on how MVC2 influenced the decision to bring the other fighting games to the U.S. Tsuchiya said that bringing anime games to the U.S. is a risk, but sometimes it is worth it when the game is accessible.